Booker Prize Won't Include U.S. Writers

By ALAN COWELL

Published: November 18, 2002

LONDON, Nov. 17—
The organizers of the $75,000 annual Booker Prize, after nurturing a dispute over whether United States authors should compete for Britain's premier literary award, have agreed to maintain rules that permit only British, Commonwealth and Irish writers to compete, a spokeswoman said today.

But the organizers contemplate introducing a second prize -- to be awarded less frequently -- for lifetime literary achievement, and that could be open to Americans, said Dotti Irving, the spokeswoman.

The Booker, now called the Man Booker to acknowledge its sponsorship by the Man group of hedge fund investors, is renowned for its public debates that seem to arise when public interest is flagging. Earlier this year, a brief storm swirled around assertions by the chief judge, Lisa Jardine, that British authors like Martin Amis or Ian McEwan would be at a disadvantage competing against American challengers like Philip Roth and Saul Bellow. At that time, the organizers were reported to be considering opening up the prize to Americans by 2004.

The prize achieved another flurry of attention after this year's winner, Yann Martel of Canada, acknowledged being inspired by an idea from a Brazilian author, Moacyr Scliar, when he wrote his award-winning novel, ''Life of Pi,'' about a young man shipwrecked with a Bengal tiger.

The 34-year-old award -- Britain's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize or the National Book Awards in the United States -- was staged this year with greater hoopla than previously, and the prize money was doubled. The judges also urged a break with what they termed ''pompous, portentous and pretentious'' fiction as they seek what has been termed more readable British fiction than some previous entries.

Ms. Irving said the organizers of the prize met last Friday to decide whether to throw the award open to Americans but decided that a change would harm the character of the prize. Some British authors contend that the great British novel is a thing of the past while American fiction remains vibrant. But others say they would welcome the challenge of competing against Americans.

Ms. Irving also said there would be no changes in the way the prize was judged. But she said the nature and value of the proposed additional prize -- which one British newspaper today likened to an Oscar for lifetime achievement in acting -- was still under discussion. The Sunday Times of London said the lifetime prize could be awarded to authors like Beryl Bainbridge of Britain, who has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times without winning. It also might be awarded to such American writers as Norman Mailer or John Updike, it said.

A new prize could also revive another debate about whether the literary world is already too congested with awards, as some critics say. Others, however, say the idea of a rich company like the Man group pumping money into literary Britain is good one.